The bad news keeps coming for housing industry
Is an end coming to the housing slump? Last week, I wrote about some economists who believe that the housing industry will begin a slow, steady recovery near the end of this year.
However, there seem to be just as many economists who believe that the recovery will take longer, that we’re not yet near the bottom.
If you really want to be depressed, check out this story in the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch. It contains some gloomy news regarding the real estate market.
Construction on new homes has fallen to the lowest levels since right after World War II, according to the MarketWatch story. The story adds that construction levels are likely to fall even more in the coming months. At the same time, a new survey shows that fewer than one in 10 home builders are confident about the business.
By now, these dismal reports regarding the housing industry have lost their ability to shock. We’ve all become a bit desensitized by all the bad news about the housing industry, the economy and employment figures.
There was some optimism immediately following Pres. Barack Obama’s historic victory in November. Remember those days? That’s when so many hoped that Obama could live up to his billing and his campaign rhetoric. The man hasn’t been in office long enough to declare a disappointment. But I think that even Obama’s most ardent supporters have come to realization that he won’t be able to work miracles. He faces a huge challenge with our nation’s struggling economy.
Is Obama up to the task? I hope so. But even if he is, he won’t be able to solve our country’s problems nearly as quickly as we’d all like.
